Dominik Filehner: “Wants to build on last season”

The Luge World Cup starts its 38th season on historic ground. The artificial ice rink in Igls, which was built at the exact spot at the foot of the Patscherkofel where luge celebrated its Olympic premiere in 1964 on a natural ice rink that was common at the time, is the venue for a FIL World Cup for the 33rd time. Only Königssee, the oldest artificial ice rink in the world, has hosted 34 events more often since the World Cup premiere in the winter of 1977/1978.

A total of 134 sleds from 21 different nations registered for the start of the World Cup. Among the participants there are also 13 South Tyroleans, namely the doubles Christian Oberstolz/Patrick Gruber, Ludwig Rieder/Patrick Rastner and the new members of the A-Team Florian Gruber/Simon Kainzwalder, as well as the singles Dominik Filehner, David Mair, Kevin Fischnelller and Emanuel Rieder. Junior Theo Gruber is also allowed to join the “big guys” in Igls for the first time. Two athletes, Sandra Robatscher and Andrea Vötter, are taking part in the women's competition.

“It will be difficult to repeat a season like the last one” After Armin Zöggeler's resignation, Dominik Fiwickeler is undoubtedly one of the great hopes of the Italian luge team. The 21-year-old from Merans, who celebrated his first victory last year and took third place in the overall World Cup, is already looking forward to the first World Cup race of the season: “We recently trained in Lillehammer, Königssee and Altenberg. Now I can hardly wait for it to finally get started.” What goals has he set for himself for the coming season? “It will be difficult to repeat a season like the one we just had. But I hope that I can build on last season. “I also want to achieve a top result at the World Championships in Sigulda,” said Fischnelller, who is not yet sure what to expect from the first race of the season.

“We never had a comparison with the other teams in the pre-season, so we can't assess exactly where we stand at the moment. It's supposed to be pretty warm here this weekend, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens. The biggest competitor is definitely Felix Loch. But the remaining German tobogganers, the Austrian Wolfgang Kindl and my teammates should not be underestimated here in Igls. And let’s not forget the Russians,” explains the young South Tyrolean, who took third place in Igls last year.

He also wants to be surprised by the Sprint World Cup, which will be added to the competition program in the 2014/2015 season ( SportNews reported ) and will have its premiere in Igls on Sunday. “I honestly have no idea whether I will like this type of racing format or not. But I'm definitely looking forward to trying something new. The rest will become apparent on Sunday,” concluded Fiwickeler.

The schedule for the World Cup in Igls:

Friday, November 28th: 9.30 a.m.: Nations Cup

Saturday November 29th: 9.40 p.m.: Women's 1st run 11.00 p.m.: Women's 2st run 12.15 a.m.: Double 1st run 13.30 a.m.: Double 2st run

Sunday, November 30th: 9.45 a.m.: Men's 1st run 11.20 a.m.: Men's 2st run 13.00:XNUMX p.m.: Sprint Cup

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Winter sports

Hockey

Tennis

Other sports

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Events

Favorites

Dominik Filehner: “Wants to build on last season”

On February 13, the curtain closed on luge on the Olympic stage in Sochi. Exactly 287 days after the brilliant premiere of the team relay at the first Winter Games in Russia, the new luge winter begins next weekend. At the first stop in Igls, 13 South Tyroleans also took part.

Suggestions

Comments (0)